Chapter Summaries

Fan Xian settled into life in the Capital and began investigating the people behind the attempt on his life, while Zhou Cheng watched him arrive at a restaurant with his siblings. The chapter ends as an unknown man publicly insults Sang Wen after Guo Baokun humiliates her over buying Red Chamber.

• Fan Jian explained the Capital’s factions to Fan Xian, who agreed to help Teng Zijing find his missing wife and child.
• Zhou Cheng and Sang Wen spotted Fan Xian, Fan Ruoruo, and Fan Sizhe arriving at a restaurant, and Zhou Cheng revealed that Fan Xian was his younger brother.
• Fan Xian followed a Red Chamber bookseller and discovered that Wang Qinian was behind the operation, but Wang Qinian escaped.
• Sang Wen went downstairs to buy Red Chamber, but Guo Baokun seized the book, shoved her, and denounced it as filthy trash.
• An unknown man stepped in as Sang Wen tried to leave and claimed that he had seen her at the Drunken Immortal Residence, insulting her as a brothel woman.

Zhou Cheng intervened when He Zongwei and Guo Baokun insulted Sang Wen and attacked Red Chamber, revealing his royal status and publicly punishing them. He Zongwei tried to excuse himself by praising Zhou Cheng, but Zhou Cheng remained unmoved and challenged his treatment of Sang Wen.

• He Zongwei and Guo Baokun mocked Sang Wen and Red Chamber until Fan Sizhe defended her and Fan Xian stepped in.
• Sang Wen reunited with Zhou Cheng, who confronted He Zongwei after he called Zhou Cheng her patron.
• Guo Baokun recognized Zhou Cheng as His Highness, and Zhou Cheng rebuked him for threatening to ban the book and mistreating Sang Wen before striking him with his fan.
• He Zongwei apologized and slapped himself, then claimed he had supported banning Red Chamber because he believed it harmed scholars.
• Zhou Cheng challenged He Zongwei for insulting Sang Wen, but He Zongwei continued to demean her while praising Zhou Cheng's supposed magnanimity.

Zhou Cheng protected Sang Wen, forced He Zongwei to apologize, then ordered him into palace service as a eunuch, though He escaped by pretending to faint. Li Hongcheng invited Fan Xian to a poetry gathering, and Zhou Cheng then admitted he had watched Fan Xian since his arrival in the Capital before beginning to explain his interest in him.

• Zhou Cheng made He Zongwei apologize to Sang Wen, then reprimanded Sang Wen for failing to assert her status as his woman.
• Li Hongcheng arrived and identified Zhou Cheng as Prince Cheng, then praised He Zongwei’s literary reputation and prospects.
• Zhou Cheng proposed that He Zongwei serve in the Imperial Study as a eunuch, but He pretended to faint and was carried away by Guo Baokun’s servants.
• Li Hongcheng invited Fan Xian to a poetry gathering, and Zhou Cheng ordered him to ensure He Zongwei entered the palace.
• Fan Ruoruo introduced Fan Xian to Zhou Cheng, who revealed that he had kept Fan Xian under observation since his arrival and mentioned the Emperor’s betrothal of Lin Wan'er to him.

Fan Xian met Zhou Cheng and suspected that the third prince might also be a transmigrator after hearing his childhood remark, then investigated the attempt on his life and Zhou Cheng’s background. The chapter ended with Emperor Qing receiving reports about Fan Xian’s inquiries and Zhou Cheng’s latest antics.

• Zhou Cheng joked that Fan Xian looked like his brothers and might be the emperor’s illegitimate son, then Fan Xian asked Fan Ruoruo about the third prince.
• Fan Xian grew excited when Fan Ruoruo recalled Zhou Cheng’s childhood remark, “Why not eat meat gruel?”, but the other stories she told did not confirm that Zhou Cheng came from his world.
• Fan Xian planned to question Zhou Cheng at Li Hongcheng’s poetry gathering and visited the Overwatch Council, where Wang Qinian agreed to retrieve Teng Zijing’s file and identified Xu Yunzhang as the man behind the false orders.
• Fan Xian read Ye Qingmei’s inscription at the Overwatch Council, then asked a secret information broker about Xu Yunzhang and Li Chengcheng, prompting a report to the palace.
• Emperor Qing learned that Fan Xian had asked about Zhou Cheng and scolded Zhou Cheng for flaunting his brothel companion and sending a scholar to be castrated.

Fan Xian obtained Xu Yunzhang’s file from the Underground Shop and suspected the Crown Prince was behind the attempt on him, but the shop vanished before he could investigate. At Prince Jing’s poetry gathering, Li Hongcheng revealed that He Zongwei had been sent to serve in the palace, and the guests awaited Zhou Cheng’s arrival.

• Emperor Qing ordered that Fan Xian receive Xu Yunzhang’s file but forbade giving him information about the third prince, then wrote a letter addressed to Ye Liuyun.
• Fan Xian learned from Xu Yunzhang’s file that he had close ties to the Eastern Palace, suspected the Crown Prince, and returned with Teng Zijing to find the Underground Shop deserted.
• Zhou Cheng received a large negative-emotion notification from He Zongwei while Sang Wen read Red Chamber to him.
• At Prince Jing’s residence, Guo Baokun arrived with his face bandaged and claimed he had walked into a doorframe.
• Li Hongcheng told the gathered scholars that He Zongwei had been recommended for palace service by Zhou Cheng, while Guo Baokun and others recognized that He had been castrated.
• An announcement declared Zhou Cheng’s arrival, and the poetry gathering fell silent.

At Prince Jing's poetry gathering, Zhou Cheng's arrival stirred the scholars' hopes until Li Hongcheng revealed what He Zongwei's palace recommendation entailed. Fan Xian tested Zhou Cheng with strange verses, then accepted Guo Baokun's poetry wager, leaving the contest about to begin.

• Zhou Cheng attended the poetry gathering with Sang Wen, and the scholars crowded around him hoping for favor.
• Zhou Cheng questioned Guo Baokun about his recovery, then took the seat of honor and encouraged the scholars to relax.
• A scholar asked whether outstanding poets could receive a palace recommendation, and Li Hongcheng explained that He Zongwei had been castrated to enter the inner court.
• Fan Xian arrived with Fan Ruoruo and recited three lines to test whether Zhou Cheng was a fellow traveler, but Zhou Cheng showed no telltale reaction.
• Guo Baokun challenged Fan Xian to a poetry contest with a wager, and Fan Xian accepted.

Fan Xian won the poetry contest by presenting Du Fu’s “Climbing High” as his own, while Zhou Cheng recognized the poem and kept its origin secret. After leaving the gathering to search for Drumstick Girl, Fan Xian was attacked and then met the Second Prince, Li Chengze, who tried to recruit him; back at the hall, Zhou Cheng pressed Guo Baokun to continue the contest.

• Fan Xian wrote “Climbing High,” stunning the scholars and leaving Guo Baokun speechless.
• Sang Wen realized Zhou Cheng knew the poem too, and Zhou Cheng told her to keep that knowledge secret.
• Fan Xian challenged Guo Baokun to take his turn, then left the gathering to look for Drumstick Girl.
• An attacker thrust a sword at Fan Xian, and he dodged before meeting the Second Prince, Li Chengze, who tried to win him over.
• Zhou Cheng praised Fan Xian’s poem and asked Guo Baokun whether he would still compose his own.

Fan Xian told Li Chengze and Zhou Cheng about meeting Drumstick Girl and revealed that he wanted to marry her instead of Lin Wan'er. He hoped canceling the imperial engagement would keep the princes from pursuing him, but Li Chengze questioned how he could overturn the emperor's decree.

• Fan Xian recounted his encounter with Drumstick Girl at the Temple of Qing, while Li Chengze listened in confusion and Zhou Cheng ate grapes.
• Li Chengze pretended to understand Fan Xian's story, but Fan Xian called him out, prompting Zhou Cheng to explain Fan Xian's true intention.
• Fan Xian confirmed that he wanted to marry Drumstick Girl and hoped dissolving his engagement to Lin Wan'er would make him politically irrelevant.
• Li Chengze asked how Fan Xian planned to cancel a marriage decreed by the emperor.
• Fan Xian considered damaging his own reputation or speaking directly with Lin Wan'er to end the engagement.

Fan Xian learned that Drumstick Girl was Lin Wan'er and agreed to write an Engagement Cancellation Letter so she could escape the marriage arranged by Emperor Qing. Zhou Cheng promised to ask Lin Wan'er whether she would accept Fan Xian and give him an answer in three days.

• Li Chengze left after challenging Fan Xian to stir up the Capital, and Zhou Cheng warned Fan Xian that breaking the engagement involved a larger political game.
• Zhou Cheng revealed that he recognized Drumstick Girl as Lin Wan'er and explained that she had consumption.
• Fan Xian declared his devotion to Drumstick Girl and agreed to write an Engagement Cancellation Letter after Zhou Cheng said Lin Wan'er also loved someone else.
• Zhou Cheng took the letter and promised to ask Lin Wan'er herself before telling Fan Xian more, giving him an answer within three days.
• Fan Xian left, willing to take responsibility for ending the engagement after learning Lin Wan'er did not want it either.

Fan Xian learned that Teng Zijing’s family had allegedly been murdered by Guo Baokun and set out to uncover the truth while helping Teng Zijing. At the Drunken Immortal Residence, he was led toward Si Lili, whose decision to meet him risked offending Zhou Cheng.

• Zhou Cheng revealed to Sang Wen that Fan Xian’s supposed Drumstick Girl was Lin Wan'er, then took Fan Xian’s Engagement Cancellation Letter to deliver to Li Yunrui.
• Li Chengze learned about Sang Wen and devised a plan to use Fan Xian’s poem to make Zhou Cheng squirm.
• Fan Xian returned from the poetry gathering and learned from Wang Qinian’s file that Guo Baokun had supposedly killed Teng Zijing’s wife and child; Teng Zijing left to seek revenge.
• Fan Xian learned from Fan Ruoruo that Guo Baokun frequented the Glazed Crystal River, then accepted Li Hongcheng’s invitation to go there that night.
• Li Hongcheng told Fan Xian that he had sent “Climbing High” to Si Lili, who decided to meet the poem’s author despite the risk of offending Zhou Cheng.

Fan Xian drugged Si Lili to slip away and help Teng Zijing investigate the disappearance of his family, only to learn from Wang Qinian that they were being held at Prince Cheng's Residence. Fan Xian promised to visit the residence with Teng Zijing the next morning and ask Prince Cheng what had happened.

• Si Lili pretended to faint after Fan Xian drugged her wine, and Fan Xian left her pleasure boat without harming her.
• Fan Xian and Teng Zijing ambushed Guo Baokun, but Guo denied killing Teng Zijing's wife and child, raising doubts about the file implicating him.
• Fan Xian and Teng Zijing confronted Wang Qinian, who admitted fabricating the file and revealed that Prince Cheng's guard had taken Teng Zijing's family.
• Fan Xian reassured Teng Zijing that Prince Cheng might have acted out of pity and promised to visit the residence with him in the morning.

Fan Xian discovered that Si Lili was the woman Prince Cheng favored and realized his visit had put Teng Zijing's family in greater danger. As Fan Xian rushed back to stop Teng Zijing from acting alone, Teng Zijing infiltrated Prince Cheng's Residence.

• Wang Qinian left after giving Fan Xian and Teng Zijing a lead on Teng Zijing's family, and Fan Xian hurried back to the Drunken Immortal Residence.
• Teng Zijing recognized that Fan Xian had spent the night with Si Lili, concealed that she was Prince Cheng's favored woman, and decided to infiltrate Prince Cheng's Residence.
• Zhou Cheng ordered Chen Quan to watch for anyone who might threaten the emperor, then returned to his bedchamber.
• Fan Xian discovered Si Lili had resisted his sleeping drug and learned that his poem and visit had offended Prince Cheng, though he had not known about their connection.
• Fan Xian realized Teng Zijing had understood the danger and rushed out to find him, while Si Lili ordered an undercover agent to watch Prince Cheng's Residence.
• Teng Zijing reached the walls of Prince Cheng's Residence and began surveying its guards and grounds.

Zhou Cheng forced Teng Zijing to spy on Fan Xian by holding his wife and child, but Teng Zijing seized Zhou Cheng and demanded his family’s release. Zhou Cheng remained unruffled and began asking Teng Zijing about his age.

• Teng Zijing infiltrated Prince Cheng’s estate, but Chen Quan’s guards caught him and brought him before Zhou Cheng.
• Zhou Cheng admitted he had taken Teng Zijing’s family to make him monitor Fan Xian, and Teng Zijing agreed to serve him after hearing his family was safe.
• Teng Zijing reported that Fan Xian had presented a poem to Si Lili, then used the distraction to take Zhou Cheng hostage and demand his family and a carriage.
• Chen Quan acted unconcerned as Teng Zijing threatened Zhou Cheng, while Zhou Cheng calmly defended his interest in Fan Xian.
• Zhou Cheng dismissed Teng Zijing’s threats and asked whether he was yet thirty years old.

Zhou Cheng defeated Teng Zijing twice, then let him reunite with his family and sent him to watch Fan Xian. After hearing Teng Zijing’s account, Fan Xian concluded that Zhou Cheng was a hidden ninth-rank expert and Emperor Qing’s favored heir, leaving him worried that he had seriously offended the future ruler.

• Zhou Cheng disarmed Teng Zijing, threw him across the study, and defeated him again when he attacked, then ordered him to see his family and return to watching Fan Xian.
• Teng Zijing left Prince Cheng’s Residence after reuniting with his wife and child, and Fan Xian found him on the road and asked what had happened.
• Teng Zijing told Fan Xian that Zhou Cheng had subdued him effortlessly and might be an eighth- or ninth-rank expert; Fan Xian suspected Zhou Cheng had trained under a hidden Grandmaster.
• Fan Xian and Teng Zijing concluded that Emperor Qing had concealed Zhou Cheng’s strength while the Crown Prince and Second Prince fought, and that Zhou Cheng was the emperor’s favored successor.
• Fan Xian worried that his earlier actions had offended Zhou Cheng and considered going to the residence to beg forgiveness.

Fan Xian faced trial for beating Guo Baokun, but the Crown Prince challenged his alibi and ordered Si Lili tortured. Second Prince Li Chengze arrived as an observer, and the chapter ended when Teng Zijing was brought into court.

• Auntie Liu offered to send Fan Xian back to Danzhou, but he refused and went with the constables to the Capital Prefecture.
• Fan Xian denied beating Guo Baokun and presented Li Hongcheng and Si Lili as witnesses to his alibi.
• Li Hongcheng and Si Lili supported Fan Xian's account, but the Crown Prince arrived and dismissed Si Lili's testimony as insufficient.
• The Crown Prince ordered Si Lili tortured, and Li Chengze entered the courtroom to observe the trial.
• Si Lili endured the finger press and refused to change her testimony, until the Crown Prince had Teng Zijing brought before the court.

Zhou Cheng entered the Capital Prefecture courtroom as the princes clashed over Teng Zijing and Fan Xian, then confronted Li Chengze over his role in humiliating him through Si Lili. After striking Li Chengze, Zhou Cheng offered him medicinal wine, and the chapter ended with Li Chengze hurling the jar at him.

• The Crown Prince accused Fan Xian of deceiving the emperor by hiding Teng Zijing's survival and revealed that Teng Zijing's family had been taken to Prince Cheng's Residence.
• Zhou Cheng arrived, mocked the Crown Prince with a reference to his woman in the painting, and clarified that his medicinal wine was not for Si Lili or Teng Zijing.
• Eunuch Hou delivered Emperor Qing's decree that Teng Zijing's survival was an Overwatch Council arrangement and ordered the princes to leave the case alone.
• Zhou Cheng cleared the courtroom and confronted Li Chengze about sending Fan Xian to Si Lili with a poem to spite him.
• Zhou Cheng decided Li Chengze was guilty, slapped him to the floor, and handed him the medicinal wine for his injury.
• Li Chengze rose in fury and threw the jar at Zhou Cheng, who dodged as it shattered on the courtroom floor.

After Zhou Cheng slapped Li Chengze, he pressured the witnesses into silence by framing disclosure as a threat to the imperial family. He then accused Mei Zhili of secretly helping the Crown Prince set up Teng Zijing, leaving the courtroom focused on whether Mei had acted under orders.

• Li Chengze accused Zhou Cheng of assaulting his elder brother, while Crown Prince Li Chengqian pretended to mediate and privately rejoiced at his rival's humiliation.
• Zhou Cheng suggested Li Chengze should demand that he slap the Crown Prince too, then persuaded Li Chengze that concealing the incident would protect the imperial family.
• Zhou Cheng secured promises of silence from Fan Xian, Si Lili, Teng Zijing, the Crown Prince, and Mei Zhili.
• Zhou Cheng questioned Mei Zhili about the prefecture's ambush and arrest of Teng Zijing, pointing out that Mei had arranged it before knowing Teng would be needed as a witness.
• Zhou Cheng asked whether someone had ordered Mei to help the Crown Prince and accused him of choosing sides against Emperor Qing.

Zhou Cheng exposed Mei Zhili’s secret allegiance to the Crown Prince, driving Mei to kill himself in court and leaving the Crown Prince facing Emperor Qing’s scrutiny. After the courtroom opened, Zhou Cheng turned his attention to Fan Xian and demanded an explanation about Si Lili.

• Zhou Cheng accused Mei Zhili of betraying Emperor Qing, and the Crown Prince failed to defend him.
• Mei Zhili removed his official hat, admitted his betrayal, and dashed himself against a courtroom pillar.
• Fan Xian confirmed Mei Zhili was dead, while Eunuch Hou revealed that Emperor Qing had secretly summoned him.
• Chen Quan opened the courtroom doors, and Xie Bi'an saw Li Chengze’s handprint but held back after Li Chengze stopped him.
• Zhou Cheng prevented Fan Xian from leaving and accused him of pursuing Si Lili, prompting Fan Xian to claim he had been set up.

Zhou Cheng revealed that he had arranged the attempts on Fan Xian’s life and threatened to marry Fan Ruoruo to force Fan Xian’s cooperation. Fan Xian erupted in fury, while Teng Zijing restrained him and Zhou Cheng remained unafraid.

• Zhou Cheng teased Fan Xian about Si Lili and maneuvered Li Hongcheng into promising not to spread rumors about them.
• Zhou Cheng ordered Mei Zhili’s courtroom death to be reported as an accident, and Eunuch Hou departed to report back to the Emperor.
• Fan Xian stopped the Crown Prince and asked whether he knew about the Danzhou assassination attempt, but the Crown Prince left without answering.
• Zhou Cheng admitted that he had personally arranged the assassination attempts and said he had trusted Fan Xian would survive.
• Zhou Cheng threatened to force Fan Xian’s cooperation by asking the Emperor to marry Fan Ruoruo to him.
• Fan Xian’s true energy surged as he threatened Zhou Cheng, and Teng Zijing grabbed him from behind to hold him back.

Zhou Cheng arranged a meeting between Fan Xian and Lin Wan'er by presenting her with Fan Xian’s Engagement Cancellation Letter, then was summoned to face Emperor Qing over slapping the Second Prince. The chapter ended with Zhou Cheng defending his actions in the Imperial Study while Emperor Qing rebuked him for disgracing the imperial family.

• Zhou Cheng left the Capital prefectural office after reminding Fan Xian to wait for Lin Wan'er at the One Stone Residence the next morning.
• Zhou Cheng visited Lin Wan'er and told her that Fan Xian wanted to meet her, then gave her Fan Xian’s Engagement Cancellation Letter.
• Lin Wan'er agreed to meet her admirer, and Zhou Cheng took the letter to bring to the Eldest Princess and Emperor Qing.
• A palace eunuch summoned Zhou Cheng to the Imperial Study, where Emperor Qing reprimanded him for slapping the Second Prince.
• Zhou Cheng blamed the Second Prince for provoking him and argued that he had acted in self-defense, but Emperor Qing condemned his retaliation.